I Wouldn’t Have Guessed That

The last Soviet premiere was a Christian.

I find arguments (such as Dennett and Dawkins, and Hitchens) put forth that religion is the source of all evil in the world to be tendentious. Much evil has been (and continues to be) done in the name of a god, but the most nihilistic, murderous regimes in history, in the twentieth century, were godless. Belief in God (or lack thereof) is neither a necessary, or sufficient condition for evil acts. The real dividing line, as Jonah points out, is not whether or not one is a deist, but whether or not one is an individualist. Say whatever else you want about a classically liberal society–it might leave some behind, but it won’t murder them wholesale.

I Wouldn’t Have Guessed That

The last Soviet premiere was a Christian.

I find arguments (such as Dennett and Dawkins, and Hitchens) put forth that religion is the source of all evil in the world to be tendentious. Much evil has been (and continues to be) done in the name of a god, but the most nihilistic, murderous regimes in history, in the twentieth century, were godless. Belief in God (or lack thereof) is neither a necessary, or sufficient condition for evil acts. The real dividing line, as Jonah points out, is not whether or not one is a deist, but whether or not one is an individualist. Say whatever else you want about a classically liberal society–it might leave some behind, but it won’t murder them wholesale.

I Wouldn’t Have Guessed That

The last Soviet premiere was a Christian.

I find arguments (such as Dennett and Dawkins, and Hitchens) put forth that religion is the source of all evil in the world to be tendentious. Much evil has been (and continues to be) done in the name of a god, but the most nihilistic, murderous regimes in history, in the twentieth century, were godless. Belief in God (or lack thereof) is neither a necessary, or sufficient condition for evil acts. The real dividing line, as Jonah points out, is not whether or not one is a deist, but whether or not one is an individualist. Say whatever else you want about a classically liberal society–it might leave some behind, but it won’t murder them wholesale.

I Hate When That Happens

This is really a horrible story, but it’s also hard not to laugh at it, and be a human:

A German retiree is taking a hospital to court after she went in for a leg operation and got a new @nus instead, the Daily Telegraph is reporting.

Talk about tearing someone a new one. Ah, the jokes just write themselves.

It’s also a lesson that you really need to have an advocate when you go to the hospital, though it’s not clear if it would have helped in this case.

[Afternoon update]

And they’re off:

“When she’s done, she’ll have money coming out of the ‘wazoo.'”

“Sort of reminds me of what is going to happen in the USA next January 20.”

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!